Quarter-pole report cards

So we’re one-fourth (and a little bit) through the season, and what do we know? Not much yet. I wrote a column about this Rangers’ team and its first 21 games for The Journal News and LoHud.com today. You can read it here (I didn’t write the headline, and I don’t like it much). My point was, even though this year could turn out like last year, or worse, this team is better off.

Anyway, here are my first-quarter report cards. As always I’d love to hear what you think, or how you’d grade them:

Michael Del Zotto: A …He’s going to get stronger and a little meaner and he might be a star. Dan Girardi: C … Is is possible that the Staal-Girardi pair was a product of Tom Renney’s system? Wade Redden: B … Fits much better in this system, is playing with some passion; but will never earn that type of salary. Marian Gaborik: A … Absolutely as advertised, and remained upright for most of the first quarter. Where would they be without him? Ales Kotalik: B … Probably could do a little more, but that shot has given the Rangers a legit PP pointman they didn’t have at all last year. Sean Avery: C … Don’t know if the benching in last year’s playoffs put too much of a leash on him, or what. I do know that the Avery Rules, as called by almost all officials, are ridiculous. Brandon Dubinsky: C … Got the big contract, and didn’t produce before the injury. He’s not a first-line center, but he should be more than he was. Marc Staal: C … I really don’t think he has the offensive skills to ever be the Norris many suggested he’d be. But could be a defensive stud, and also should be more than he’s been. Vinny Prospal: A … The bargain of the year, if not the Glen Sather regime. Hope he doesn’t burn out with all the minutes and responsibility. Christopher Higgins: D … Doesn’t appear he will get a sniff of the 20 goals he was supposed to bring, and he’s not good enough away from the puck to not score. Brian Boyle: B … Has played his role very well, been maybe a little tougher than expected, kill penalties, and is tied with Higgins, Drury and Avery with two goals.Chris Drury: D … Unless he was hurt before the concussion, there’s no excuse for the production he’s provided, not to mention the faceoffs or the plus/minus.Ryan Callahan: C … The alternate captain has only lately begun to play the way he did last year. And his offense has dissappeared too.Michal Rozsival: D … Just took two steps backward from a mediocre year last season. That contract is like an anchor.Aaron Voros: C … If he could cut out some of the offensive-zone penalties, it would be a B. Say what you want, he plays with passion and fearlessness.P.A. Parenteau: A … In a small sampling, he’s produced. Looks fine on the PP.Artem Anisimov: B … This kid will be an NHLer for a long time, with size, good skill, and hockey sense.Enver Lisin: B … Now on the top line, must produce. His speed suffered with the hairline foot fracture.Donald Brashear: D … Why did they pay this guy $1.4 M?Matt Gilroy: B … It’s only his fifth year of playing defense at any level, and the NHL is a tough place for learning on the job. Can sure skate, though.

Henrik Lundqvist: C … Needs to play like an elite goalie more often, and make the big save late in games, especially with this offense in front of him.Steve Valiquette: B … Had the one shutout, and is 2-2. Really shouldn’t expect much more from someone who plays so rarely.

John Tortorella: C … Needs to find a way to get more offense within his system, needs to get his players to better understand that system and not play reckless hockey, needs to get guys like Drury and Avery going.

Glen Sather: B … Brought in Gaborik, Gilroy, Prospal, Kotalik, Lisin, got rid of Gomez and a lot of dead weight, and drafted most of the kids on the roster. On the other hand, saddled himself with the bad contracts, insulted fans with the Brashear signing, has only one legit first-line player, no shut-down defensemen. But the grade is based on this first quarter, so it’s not bad.

You have a good hockey mind, Carp. At least this morning. A hangover from seltzer?
Agree with everything. Maybe Higgins C-, I think he is starting to come around. Artem Anisimov, I feel will eventually surprise a lot of people. He had two shifts last night when ha totally neutralized AO.

Carp – I like the grades and agree with them. I thought you liked the Brashear signing so why ask why did they sign him? (If I am incorrect I apologize) I never have liked Brashear and I am very disappointed with Higgins. I really liked him when he was on Montreal I hope he turns it around.

Carp, I dont know why you didnt give – or + grades because callahan is NOT a C and nor is Dan Girardi, I’d give DG a B- and a Cally C-.

I know he leads the league in hits, so friggin what. We have, again, an impotent, lack of goal scoring team other than one single guy who we cant even fully count on until he’s played a full season OR more in rangers blue.

Its frustrating to celebrate goals and hurt my voice because im so happy they tie it up, to only let a soft Matt Bradley goal in at about 5 minutes remaining.

I’m finally gonna do it, but hank has not been sharp. He has been losing his touch on the breakaway and cannot seem to pick up pucks even from guys like bradley for his life. Ive seen him get Richtered so many times this year on the break its not even funny. Years past, obviously, the defensive system was the reason that he did well. He played behind a defensive team.

Torts was wrong. Lundqvist is good, but truly may not be world class for the NHL, because when it comes down to it, where are the steals? This year? Where has he really saved the game this year other than the shootout victory in Ottawa? He hasnt. Torts said he had a go-go-go pace that we had a world class goaltender and it didnt matter if we gave up breaks.

It matters. Rangers cant score a friggin goal for their lives, the entire team is a Renney team except one man, Marian Gaborik. If i were him, i’d be wondering where my help was and where my stanley cup was going to come from playing like this. He’s going nowhere fast if he thinks this team is going to make it.

Higgins is really starting to piss me off and so is Callahan. These two guy are guys we COUNT! on for secondary scoring, but again, like in years past, we have absolutely none.

Im sad that we couldnt pry a guy like Maxim Lapierre away from the Habs for Gomez, because maybe annoying somebody, being quick, and scoring a few would be better than a guy who completely blows in Higgins.

He must be feeling the pressure, because he’s in my crosshairs and if he’s in mine he’s in Sathers.

I WANT! to know what torts thinks about his goaltender. I want to know if he thinks that he’s as good as he was before, candidly. You cant call mistakes on D every single game. This guy is no Brodeur.

It’s sad that i still enjoy watching the games, because sometimes i hope that the team that started yesterday’s game would come out to play more than 30 minutes a game. If i had one request for you carp, its to ask Tortorella how he’s going to get his team to play a full 60, 65 or more minutes. Renney got it, even if it was boring and defensive. We seem to constantly lapse back.

I need to hear something from this guy that isnt “Higgy will get going” or “Hank is great” because they’re pissing me off. If the shots are 15-5 in the first, then 30-10 in the second (just following a trend here) then why not play until 45-15 in the third? Is it not worth it?

I knew we’d lose. AO scored, called that. Brooks Laich scored, called it. Matt Bradley, the first guy Voros beats and the guy who basically turned the Caps series around shelfs lundy.

Pierre LeBrun’s take on a rant he received about Sather needing to go…

LeBrun’s take: My, my, haven’t we become a little greedy in Manhattan? Have we already forgotten that this franchise rode a seven-year, non-playoff streak entering the lockout? Since then, four straight appearances in the postseason. Only five other NHL teams have also achieved that: Anaheim, Calgary, Detroit, New Jersey and San Jose. Only the Devils and Rangers in the East have made the playoffs all four seasons since the lockout. OK, they don’t hand out pennants for that, but I’m just trying to give you some perspective. But I do agree, this team is not championship caliber at this point. The majority of Cup champions are built down the middle, and the fact is, the Rangers don’t have a bonafide No. 1 center. Until that is addressed, try to settle for another playoff appearance.

Tough call who to give the B and who the C between Sather and Tortorella. Like Renney last year, I think Tortorella is handicapped by the roster he is given but I don’t think he’s been nearly as good a coach as advertised/expected.

The one thing I think that is missing from the grades above is the off ice stuff. While we’ll all agree that on ice performance is the ultimate decider of a player’s legacy, what happens outside of games is important too. You can have a very skilled player (think Zherdev) but if he won’t buy into the coach’s system, doesn’t practice hard or runs his mouth in the papers that drags down the entire team.

I hate to say it and I don’t really know but I would bet that Voros, for example, is a consummate professional whose work outside of games positively contributes to the overall team. He probably doesn’t bitch, practices hard, is always ready to play and does everything that asked or more.

JJP, Voros is OBVIOUSLY a consummate professional, he’s stayed in the lineup simply because he has FOUGHT his way, LITERALLY into the lineup. Getting his ass KICKED many times and coming back and saying hey, im going to fight again for my spot.

Carp-no objections to your grades. Good job. Totally agree with Brashear, could have had Orr for less $$ with the same production.

Back to being Carped:
repost
November 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
CTBlueshirt with the age breakdown of this team should keep everybody off of the suicide hotline. We wanted a young team and we’ve got one. Gilroy and the rest are learning on the job. Anybody here who thought the cup was marching down Broadway this year is crazy. I’m happy with a young team. The plan looks to be a year or 2 from showing great results. Relax.

And for those who say we should go for it now cause we have an elite goaltender, although it’s a good point, we’ve all seen the results of this organization going for it now. If Lundqvist is a great goalie, he still will be in 2 years when everything should start jelling. Let’s hope Sather doesn’t let senility take over and trade away the youth for more washed up former all stars.

I agree with most grades except the A for Parenteau, maybe a B. And yes, Henke has been average by his standards so far. Maybe this means his mid-season slump will reverse though, who knows? And yea, I loved seeing ol’ Wade get pissed, he was also the only guy who, in the 1st after Henrik got knocked down, went over to the Cap who did it and gave him a little shot before the refs jumped in.

I think NYR may have a problem with coaching. Lets face it. This is a tough system for any team to play and play well. Washington is better suited to that style than NYR. So far this season, we have seen the same stamp on every game and very little in-game adjustment. Other than Stall backing off the offense some – what has changed?

It isn’t working. Not with this lineup.

Wouldn’t a good coach stop trying to pound the same square peg in the same round hole?

Jay…I think he’s trying to get the players we have now to fit into the system so he can see who is going to make it and who isn’t…so when he gets the players he wants to mesh with the players he’s developed…it will be all systems go

NYRGuy
He should know who can play the system and who can’t by now. I know it is still early but will he keep experimenting/forcing the issue until playoffs are no longer an option. (if they are an option?).

NYRGuy, My thoughts exactly. the changes are not over by a long shot. The players viewed as expendable are exactly that. There are probably one 4-5 players in this group that are safe from trade right now and that list varies from month to month. I would consider DZ, Gilroy, Redden, Gabby, Prospal, and Hank safer than the rest. Speculation is fun. especially since i am so horrible at it. My last 3 NYR favorite players have been traded or forced out after a very short time. So i will reserve that information in hopes of quashing that trend. Cumbaya

I agree on Lundqvist, I’ve never been 100% sold on him. While I obviously do think he’s awesome, and hope he’s got the stuff to keep this team competitive for many years to come, I don’t see him as the “world class” netminder he’s been called. He is still yet to put together a whole season. He can get VERY hot, but he also gets VERY cold for about 1/3 of each of the seasons he’s played so far.

I would love it if he opted out of the Olympics too, because he already knows from experience that will cost him down the line. (I’m not delusional, I know he will play)

bull dog – he’s going to be a star. He’s gotten better at his skating this year. it wasn’t that he wasn’t fast enough, just he was uncomfortable with the speed. He’s going to be elite for a long time.

The only one I disagree with is Higgins as I’d give him a C. He’s been much better off the puck lately. He was probably one of the best players out there last night on the forecheck. Plus he’s got great hands and moves, just he hasn’t scored, which is why he gets the C. He starts scoring and I’d move him up, I just think he needs a real center since he’s not someone who can create his own shot very well.

Salty – me and you said that last year and people kept saying we were wrong and that he’s one of the best in the league. He has some terrible stretches where he can’t stop the puck. He’s been cutting it down from being bad for half a year to maybe 1/3 of the year now, but he’s still not consistent enough to be considered one of the “elite” guys.

nice job all around carp, i agree with almost everything you said to a tee…i’m still wondering when this team is going to get going (again)- its hard to get into a rythm when you play sporadically, but coming up i believe is 6 in 10…let’s see what happens then…but the fact that the islanders have the same amount of points as us is a little bit sad, and we’re only 2 games above .500

I would give Brashear an F. He’s done literally nothing at all—unless of course being a scratch or taking bad penalties is how you define nothing. Other that that, agree completely. Overall, I’d give the team a C and trending downwards and that’s right where their record stands at the moment as well.

I agree on the Bathroom Staal-Danny G pairing being a product of Thomas. They’re just lost this year, and it’s sickening.

Del Z should be getting top line minutes. There are some games where Gilroy gets more time than him. Del Z is the leading goal, and point scorer on D. I don’t care how young he is, he should get the time they’re getting.

Hank better skip the Olympics. If he even cares aboot this team, he would do it. You already have a fuggin gold medal, and the last time you won it, you got hurt, and fugged up the whole year for the team.

Fuggin hate the Olympics. Besides the Russian Curling team. They’re full of babes.

OK grading, but Sather receives a B? Every player mistake for the past 11 years has been his responsibility. How hard was it to sign Gaborik or Prospal? Gaborik was a free agent who wanted to come to NYC, and Tortorella brought in Prospal for nothing. NYC is a huge draw — Sather doesn’t deserve any credit for the charms of New York. If he was attracting players to Columbus, that would be another story. And the fact that the Rangers are unable to do anything right now with the current personnel, and the fact that they will have to dump and buy out more players this summer to pay for other UFAs is purely the responsibility of Sather. Where exactly is his team building strategy? He is only capable of attempting to erase last year’s mistakes every single year. D- for Sather. Not to mention that he makes zero attempts to address the media and fans.

Yeah, this is pissing me off. I want to see Grach. The kid deserves a game at least. Pap has been decent, but im not sold on the kid. Frog, and Issister had a couple of goals while playing for NYR. Where the fugg are they now. They’re like the forgotten members of a once popular 90’s boy band.

Im not sure but i think Grach is like the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer on the team. He shouldn’t have been passed up.

There’s no harm in letting a kid play one NHL game whether he’s ready or not. It’s not like he’s gonna die after playing one fuggin game.

I think the most frustrating thing for me is their flashes of brilliance followed by their dazed amazement in which they let down and usually get scored upon. It’s almost as if they are collectively satisfied and content with scoring one goal. It seems to take a WTH moment to bring them back into the game. If the 4th line is the only consistent tempo line, let them on the ice for a short shift following all our goals. bang, dump, bang, cycle, change..

I agree with the B. You gotta leave the last two seasons, and beyond out of it. It’s not hard to bring players to NY, but still. He made a few good decisions. He managed to get a sucker to take on Blowmez while giving up there top prospect, and another prospect along with Mr. Piggins. That, and the Prospal signing was good enough. Kotalik, at the time didn’t like, but he’s playing well. Id still like to have Nicky Z, cause i think he might have been able to click with Gabby, and learn from him.

His only bad decision was Brash*t. He could have had the booze hound McGratton for a hell of a lot less.

As long as ive been a Ranger fan, ive never watched a fight, hoping that the Ranger got knocked out.

Henrik will never be one of the best, until he becomes an all round goaltender. He has to challange the shooter, he can’t play back in the net so far. He’s got to be a gifted athlete to do as well as he does playing how he does. People say a lot of good things about Tort’s coaching skills, but I have never heard any say he was a good motivater maybe he’s not. He’s got to many guys who have been producers that are offensively culled. It just makes me wonder thats all.

jesus, people. grachev isn’t ready! he still hasn’t adjusted to the ahl and at this rate he still might not be ready by the time next year rolls around. give the kid some time. he’s not the answer right now.

marc staal is a teddy bear back there. He’s got no snarl and he’s been overrated by rangers fans since the day he was drafted. yet, for whatever reason, everyone still thinks so much of this kid. sorry but its true. it’s hard to be critical of him when every ranger fan will jump down your throat but he’s not even a top pair guy the way he’s been playing and he’s never going to bring any offense from the blue line. this kid won’t ever win a norris trophy. mark my words. or should i say marc my words? he’s not the player every ranger fan thinks and wants him to be and he never will be!

drury has been a complete waste of money, leadership and ice time. Absolutely garbage. worst captain in years. I’d be looking to move him for just about anyone or thing right now but no one will take his contract. oh yeah, he’s got a NMC too. great job, glen!

dubinsky has been awful and so has callahan. i recently watched video from dubinsky’s rookie year… what the hell happened to this kid?

higgins? really? waste of a roster spot. i was in favor of dumping gomez but looking back now, stupid move. shoulda found a way to lose drury instead. maybe then we’d have a center that can actually play with gabby.

wake me up at the trade deadline. until then, i could give a shit about this team.

we’re light years away from being a stanley cup contender.

i know the second i post this, all you marc staal fanboys are going to go ape shit.

You can’t ignore past seasons because the personnel this season are all a byproduct of previous seasons. Anisimov, Del Zotto are good draft picks who have been successful — credit goes to management.
But every single contract signed is the sole responsibility of management. And the lack of cap space is the sole responsibility of management. Multi-year contracts which impact the inability to sign new players are the fault of management. Look at Buffalo — bad season last year, but turned it around immediately. Philadelphia, San Jose, Detroit, NJ — consistency. Good management keeps teams consistently good and builds forward. That kind of management does not exist with Sather. Every year the Rangers rebuild — that is bad management.

Grachev has 13 points in 18 games in Hartford, not bad. Someone mentioned Paul Crowder, don’t know where you got the info on him playing first line minutes, but he has 9 pts all season. The top player, and center is Cory Locke, 24 pts, in 19 games.

The comments on Staal are right…and wrong! He is not a great offensive player and probably never will be, but he is not a disaster. He doesn’t always shpw great judgment in deciding when to join the rush and he gets hurt because he is not a good enough skater to be able to cover for his mistakes. But, he is a decent passer and he is basically solid in his own end. I don’t think he is a top pair guy…yet. (Same, by the way, with Girardi.) But, he has to play that role and those minutes because they have no one else who can fit into that slot.

completely agree with kc, great post(s)…last night I did a money breakdown that spells out just how badly Sather has managed this roster/the Salary Cap, and how it will continue to cripple this team for years…one more time:

this team will NEVER be a real contender for anything when you have 2 players who are dead weight (Drury, Rozsival) and an average D-Man making elite money (Redden) taking up $18.5 million of a $56 million salary cap

think about it: after you take out the cap space for those 3 clowns, it’s basically like we have a $37.5 million payroll…then take away the $14.5 million for Gaborik and Lundqvist (who are both worth it) and YOU ONLY HAVE $23 MILLION to put together the rest of a NHL roster

$18.5 million = Drury (this season + 2 more), Rozsival (this season + 2 more), Redden (this season + 4 more)
$14.5 million = Gaborik, Lundqvist
$23 million = TO BE SPENT ON THE REST OF THE TEAM (at least 15-17 players)

and we expect that roster to contend for something?

as long as we have the Drury/Rozsival/Redden toxic contracts killing our cap space, we will be stuck in an endless cycle of mediocrity…a more offensive and entertaining version under Torts, but still mediocre nontheless

nyrcc,
Most people here have been on Staal pretty good this season. You are right about what you have said about him, but it has been said before on this blog. Pretty much everyone here is knowledgeable and not blind to what they see.

Its always nice to see guys who dont do jack sh*t like Dreary, Blows’emall and Overedden.

Oh well. GJ Sather for picking up wade redden instead of brian campbell. you really scored trying to ‘get a good deal on a top player’ once again! just like when Chara was too expensive at 7.5 million, look now! A norris trophy!

“Thanks for the B, Carp! I knew you were always my buddy! /sprinkles crack on pipe”

Staal and DZ have to get bigger and stronger, they get pushed around to much. That said they both do Ok for their size. DZ has been good with the puck and pinching. Staal seems to have a hard time making decisions, maybe he has no idea what Torts wants him to do.

Do you watch different games than me, he looks pretty strong on his skates to me, especially for a taller guy!

Carp

Great work on the grades. Love the fact you gave voros props for being a stand up guy and a good teammate, he deserves it. I think envir fata, i mean daigle, i mean lisin is rated too high and rozy just needs an F. Great list though.

chara didn’t want to play with jagr, that’s why he didn’t end up with us (kinda like gauthier didn’t tryout, due to avery supposedly). also, no more trades and no more FA signings, wow a smallish team that gets pushed around alot without much scoring………sounds familiar!

Hockeymon,
I agree Staal has been a little shakey but he is still young, and learning to play in this league. Has he regressed? Sure maybe a little but let him grow a little. He is learning a new system. I tend to think Torts put too much on him.
As far as DZ goes, I’m impressed at how physical he is. He’s so young, he will get bigger and stronger but wow I don’t have any bone to pick with him at all…He has been outstanding.

why have a 4th line of total no talent when you cannot score? why not call up grachev and byers until drury and dubi get back and put them in the lineup and try to put guys on the ice that a minimum can skate and hit the net on occassion.

really voros and brashear bring zippo and boyle slightly more then zippo, so they are playing with 9 forwards.

yea they will not miss drury and dubi because they stink!!!!!!!1drury drunk is better then voros and other junk players.

i never said staal was terrible. all i said was he will never be the player most rangers fans expect him to be. offensively and or defensively. he’s not an elite shutdown dman and he won’t be until he bulks up and actually starts bangin bodies. i don’t see that happening.. i also don’t see him ever putting up points con any kind of a regular basis.

@ THE REAL MikeyNJ –

i never said dealing any of those players straight up would return talent. I don’t think packaging them together would return talent either.

also, you’re a bozo if you think moving prospects with them will help when the only prospects that would net a decent return are the prospects the rangers need to hold on to.

at least we can agree that patrick sharp would look great in a rangers jersey but would he solve our problems? no.

@bulldogline –
yes. it’s been said here before. it’s been said by me. matter of fact, last time i brought it up everyone came at me like i’ve never seen the kid play… he’s overrated. period.

i asked this question a week or so ago on this same blog. over the past few years there have been glaring holes on this team… what has sather done to fill any of them?

outside of drafting mdz, you could say he’s done absolutely nothing to address those needs.

we still don’t have a top line center (drury / gomez we’re busts).
we still don’t have a dman with any kind of snarl.
we do have a ppqb but he’s a rookie.
we still don’t have any secondary scoring and we havent had that in how long? even when jagr was here we still we’re only a one line team.

anyone wanting to trade drury, m guess would be LA as the most likely place since he has a NTC, but lives out there (still doubt he would waive it because he likes it here) and they would send salary back I’m sure and probably not a young guy. That being said, I would do a dru for ryan smyth deal in a frakking heartbeat (and I actually like dru even though he is overpaid)!

Nice Assessment Mr. Carp.
Even the most ardent sather haters like me have to give him a pat (stab) on the back for bringing in Prospal, Lisin and gaborik.
Higgins seems a loss right now, but they had to dump Gomez and his contract, even if Higgins turns out to be a bust.

Who knows if hank is saving himself for the swedes in the olympics?

Its good to see Redden having a good year maybe he can be moved.

maybe a trade is coming down the line when drury and dubi get back.
They have dubi callahan staal gerardi and a few others to deal, never mind the future , The rangers are about Now.

nyrcc,
I happen to agree with you about Staal, and have said as much here. I for one . would trade him as soon as possible, before the rest of the league figures out how overrated he is and he still has some value.
Staal Wart,
I hope you are right, that Staal being young, will progress into being what we all thought he was going to be. I have my doubts.

thnx for the link bro… but i have a Russian website (for which i pay $40 per month) where i can watch the match Live from chnl 1 in Russia! its a great website with thousands of Russian movies, TV programs, shows and sports! Including ALL euro hockey (KHL, euro tournaments and more!)

the problem is that the personnel don’t match the system that Torts wants to play.

he wants to play forechecking, pinching, safe-is-death hockey, but many of the players he has are not fast enough, mobile enough, or quick decision makers enough to effectively play that system

thus, they often get caught out of position and give the opponent a 2-on-1 break that is occasionally cashed in and is the difference in many games.

also, your goalie needs to make big saves on odd man rushes in the Torts system, and Lundy has been good at times, but not consistently like they need. as Lundy himself said, he is on his heels too much and playing too deep in the net

so, unless they change to the Lou debbies system and play safe-is-everything hockey, or, they acquire better players for Torts system, then I expect things to continue as is. a near .500 record,a bubble team struggling to make a playoff spot, and an early exit if they do.

The most Redden deserves in my book is a *C*, which is a huge improvement from last season. For a defenceman who’s not producing much offensively, he plays way too soft. He passes *soft*, clears the zone *soft*, skates *soft*, bumps into the opponent *soft*. I often wonder if the guy can even get hard for his wife.

4gen- i liked your post at the top. i also think that gabby and other fre agents like prospal and kots are the ones scoring for thsi team and leading teh way. we all want homegrown and dont want to keep signing free agents all the time, but without those 3, wed be almost dead last right now. lets face it, duby,cally,byers,papsmear,arent gonna be top 6 players. there all 3rd n 4th liners. only good prospects that could be top players for this team are AA(who is probably 1 2nd liner at best),grachev(who again is probably a 2nd liner), and dz, who will be a top pair d man. im not sure about kreider,werek,stepan,bourque,horak, etc.. but maybe if we dont get in the playoffs this year, we can get a good pick. its supposed to be deep, so maybe a top 10 pick could get this team a true star forward that we avent had in forever. i also think we need a better backup for hank. maybe child please(ocho cinco) johnson can be a better backup for hank. i also think hank needs a backup that will actually challenge him more. healthy competition never hurt noone. maybe hank got a little complacent knowing vally wont ever steal his spot.

The Avery rules? Are you surprised? The guy is known as the #1 punk and pest in the NHL, and you think he deserves a break? If they used the repeat offender rule, he would of been suspended for his shot on Varlamov last night.

wicky, if this is the real Callahan, then I’ll admit I drank the Kool Aid, and I’m no homer. I thought he was legit, that he’d be a 30-goal guy who would lead the league in hits and kill penalties and a slam-dunk alternate captain if not captain. But I still think he will be closer to last year’s player than this year’s player for most of his career.

Agree with most grades. Cally has been gritty, just not putting the puck in the net. A great forechecker with the most hits in the league. I’d give him a C+ and expect him to get back into A/B form soon!

Nice assessment of the team so far. Let’s face it, if you looked at the roster at the start of the year, you had to think that this would be a team that would have to fight for a playoff spot and that’s where we are at the quarter pole. The main positive for me is that we seem to be building something, particularly on D, with 4 guys 25 years old or less. They are quality players too. Staal and Girardi seem to be struggling with more offensive roles, but it sounds like Tortorella may be pushing them a bit less on that end so that offensive abilities will emerge more slowly. Hopefully, that will make them more comfortable and get back to last year’s form. Now, we need to develop a similar core offensively and we just do not have the pieces for that right now. That is why they will be fighting for a playoff spot.

I think we wish that our team was good less than Leaf fans though, They truly bleed their hockey like we do, and have been truly suffering for so long. Let the bleeding stop with all these bad players on every bad team.

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Staal,
Marc Staal in now in his 3rd full year, and by your own admission has regressed this season. This actually started last season, this is 2 years of regression. I do not think a 6ft 3 finess dman is worthy of being a top pair player, and yeah I would trade him right now to fill the many other holes this team has. Like a shut down Dman, or a 1st and 2nd line center. I look at him and see Chris Phillips, another soft player.

More importantly, Carp, you so rock. Just so you all know, before I knew Carp as a friend and real colleague, when he covered the Rangers full time (he was a big shot, I was a nobody!) I read him religiously and still would even if I weren’t part of this blog (I think he and Brown rate as the best hockey writers and reporters, at least in NY). Today’s column and the blog ratings were great.

So, mash note done, I am very proud of all of you today. I was insane at work and let Carp have his fun while he had the time, but you all seem to be improving, and you know what I mean. Blogmama is happy today!

Nice to read the blog today and being late at it has it’s advantages. I missed out on a few post that were deleted and it made my reading experience today much more pleasurable. I think it is funny as hell that I didnt have to read the trolls post , only to see a piece where he/she/it was blown to piece by the Carpinator. Great grades Carp ,spot on chap.

Are young talent that isn’t scoring is doing other stuff. Cally is hitting,Dubi is blocking shots and Staal is playing againt the Best offesive players in the game. He kept ov to 1 goal and is learning as we sit hear and bitch about him.

Dead weight from high priced vets is the risk you take when you sign them. Our management can’t sit and wait for 10 years till something falls into place. Places like Montreal and New york demand the best. Teams like the past Habs championships and the current Yankees winning the world series. Rangers are hancuffed into buying high priced help just because fan are spoiled by thier baseball team that they say…how come not the Rangers? It will take some time but we need patience. No throwing anyone under the bus .

As over rated as Hank is , he is the best goalie commming out of sweden. We need to have another swede as his back up to challenge him , yes we do. He needs to be pushed to stay consistent or he will sit.Hank is tired ,he gonna get more tired.

WAKE UP CALL TO SATHER :

I know yer thinking it …so do it!! Get in Vinny L ,trade Cally and who ever to make this thing work. Gaborik is here for 5 more years or so…get him his center.

Anybody like Carmen Electra ? Supposedly there’s gonna be a lezzie sex tape that will be leaked on the internet soon. A preview of the tape, and some pics hit the net, but it’s nothing special.

Not really a fan of hers. Although, when i was younger, she was on the top of my list with Pamela Anderson when i discovered that girls didn’t have cooties, and if they did, i wanted them. Just the gonzagas alone on the two of them were enough to get me hooked.

Great your report card is pretty spot on. Brashear with an F. Really happy that Redden received a B. Ironically, he’s the only player who’s improved significantly from last year. Now that’s telling you something. Good for him.

Who in the rangers line up is good trade bait. Gaborik, Henrik, Prospel now, DZ, Gilroy, Callihan, Duby, Thats about it. Who would they get back thats better, that would really help this team. I don’t think they would get back anybody better if they were to trade any of these guys.

Marc Staal is at worst Jay McKee and at best Rod Langway. He’s not an offensive guy.

Vinny L has like 3 goals this year. I think his wrist is still messed up. Trading for him would be like going for Bobby Carpenter with the knee problems.

Rangers should target a 2nd tier veteran like a Cory Stillman, Alex Tangauy, Milan Hejduk, someone like that where they’ll only have to give up a mid-level prospect like a DuPont/mid round draft choice, and force the other team to take back a Higgins or Voros.

they might be able to trade Voros, but they’d be hard pressed to get back someone with as much heart. He can’t put the puck in the ocean, and he takes the odd bad penalty, but the guys plays hard every night.

Hey, Babs, I knew you never left!
Folks, I’ll tell go and check her sisterblog as often as you can. Btw, don’t rush, cause I mandelbaum it every time, so you have no chance. But I digress. It’s amazing what she posts there every day and how helpful it is to animals and animal lovers. She gets a true A. And she does it on her free time. I know, I often sound sarcastic, but I truly mean it this time.

Thats just it their caped out. they would have to trade for equal salary or less. I can’t see how they could improve. There isn’t much down in Hartford right now that they could deal to improve. I’m sure Sather is constantly looking for any improvements he can make. I gotta say I am not always impressed with his moves.

My fault rooting for france in the world cup qualifier against ireland today, took the day off to watch the match and Shor and CCCP were nice enough to keep chatting with me during the game. Along with zzzzz making sure the other night that I don’t wear a visor! Laurel was showing off her linguistic abilities!!!

I agree with hockeymon abut voros, you just should not trade that guy with this team’s current make up of players that show no heart!

you could dump rozy somehow and pay for witt and volchenkov with his current salary! I think sangs, girardi, higgy, lisin, PAP, and dubi could all be traded (along with a rozy salary banishment or buyout) and this team could improve considerably!

Yeah, gang, I meant to tell you what was a true definition of “BEING CARPED”. I was posting last night at the beginning of the game thinking:”Where is everybody?” Until Gabby scored and I realized I was the only shmuck posting on the old post for awhile. Thanks, Carp.

LOL Thank you. She’s from Odessa and really has a loving and caring family. Im glad they like me, they are pretty old school (Im Italian) LOL Im close with my boss at work and she’s from St. Petersburg (she has been my recent translator). I know alot about Eastern EU culture so they are both impressed that I know what I know. I always joke & say “I think I was Russian Czar in a past life” LOL Yeah she does… she keeps me laughing and tolerates my hockey passion. Laughs when I get crazy with bad calls, bonehead plays etc, especially when Im furiously typing as the game is going on. She HATES to be around me when they lose – but I explained to her there are good losses and bad losses. Hopefully, when we all get together at Warren you can all meet her :)

nice work Carp. didn’t know he played for us before the pens.
he said that his cousin lives in florida now, that the warm weather is better for his achy body. he was buying a book called 3 Minutes for Pain Relief. recommended it.

btw, Carp
nice grading.
i agree with much of it. i’d add a minus here and there….as in DZ, but only because of some rookie mistakes which i can live with, in fact i can live with Gilroy not being in the right spot yesterday more so than i CANNOT live with the idea that Henrik is NOT stopping shots that a supposed elite goalie such as himself should be stopping……and he’s been like that for the last half of 2008 season and continues with that this season.

MAKO- have you been to Russia? If not, I would strongly recommend. I’m married to a New Yorker (born and raised), but her family is from Columbia. She doesn’t know Jagr from Gaborik, but lets me watch and go to as many games as I want. I’m in a much better shape now, cause my ex-wife didn’t know Mark Messier from Derek Jeter, if you know what I mean

OOOH I know ;) Was so close to going back in high-school. I was part of an Ambassadorship program “people to people” I was supposed to go out fly out to Moscow & live with a family for 4 months. Of course it was 1991 when the Cold War was volatile and they cancelled it that year. But I have been wanting to go. We’ve been talking about going & bouncing around over there. She came here & went to school in ’91 LOL

Sure Vinny L is struggling and makes a whopping 10 mil per season…but he would be reunited with Torts and prospal. We would have to give up Dubinsky (2.5 million) and banish rozival(6 million) trade redden ala gomez style to a team wanting an experienced vet. It can be done. Sather can do it. Brashear needs to go .He was invisable during the game against his former team exept for his rare scoring chance he had.

Hank is Hank , we live and die by the sword. If Hank ever gets it all right…he could dominate. He did in the Gold medal game . Hendrick should have covered that puck!!!! That blew us the game. We can live with out Dubinsky and Drury , can’t we?

TOP needs :

#1 Garden ice. We pat for a practice facility and top of the line equiptment for our Ranger but don’t provide top ice at the garden like a team like Edmonton has??

#2 A Center ,Bonafied center ,period. Drury,Dubinsky,Prospal and AA ,don’t even come close to cutting it.

GregL- I’ve been saying that for sometime, if VL comes here, that makes the team a legit contender instantly. And yes, it has a lot to do with Torts being here, but also there are still very few centers with his skills and size.

Props to Carp for writing that article for The Journal News. I just read it. If only everybody could feel the same, some of the posts here would be easier to read. And yes, it’s looking like another painful, up and down season, but we do have a better team with much better potentials. Patience, unforunately, isn’t a virtue of a New-Yorker.

Love #3, and I would love to see Lecavalier here as well! With torts here, I give it a better than avg chance especially with any contract they may get back having a shorter term than Vinny’s so they still come out ahead so to speak (ie send them sangs, dubi, and rozy plus pick type trade).

Thing is ilb2001 ,Sather can get Vinny L . He basicly has Tampa paying our own Vinny’s salary . Sather can get this done. Defensman as well. Who would you take arguing over a trade or players contract Lou or Glen? I’d take Glen only cuz he is shrewder and doesn’t stink of NJ fodder.(little off topic ,oh well)

Glen Sather a B? OMG, that’s ridiculous. D- and the only reason it’s not an F is because of Gabbie (which I maintain was a high risk move) and Prospal. Cap challenged with 4 significant lineup holes…FIRE THE BUM.

Aw, this was an extremely excellent publish. In idea I’d really like to put in writing like this furthermore ??taking time as well as true hard work to create a very good article??but what can I say??I procrastinate much and practically never seem to get something finished.